Loose-leaf binder.



W. L. BLUE.

LOOSE LEAF BINDER.

APPLICATION man APR. 16. ms.

nymvron \QcMe-r LYQNQ by I l ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1916.

W/ TN E 8858:

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPELML, WASHXNuToN, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

WALTER I. BLUE, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

LOOSE-LEAF BIN DER.

Application filed April 16, 1915. Serial No. 21,756.

struct a loose leaf ledger or binder so that at the beginning it will be so compact that a few leaves or sheets can be bound in it and from time to time the binder may be enlarged as the number of sheets increases to the desired limit. This makes the capacity of the binder adjustable all of the way from one sheet to the maximum number of sheets desired.

Heretofore devices of the kind have been arranged so that the minimum number of sheets capable of being bound was very large, often greatly inexcess of what was desired. This invention-obviates that difficulty and makes the binder adjustable in capacity from zero to the maximum limit.

The chief feature of the invention'consists in making the binder sectional so that additional sections may be insertedto increase its capacity.

Another feature consists in connectingthe backs with the covers by hinged plates and means for holding them in close position and arranged so that when said closing means is released the cover of the hinged plate maybe turned back and the sheets of paper will be then accessible wlthout any of the necessity heretofore of expanding the binder with a key or other means. When. such cover and connecting plate is turned back, any number of sheets of paper may be put in or removed simultaneously so that the manipulation of the device is rendered much more simple and satisfactory than binders heretofore.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings, the following description, and claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of said binder with some sheets in the same and with one inserted section in the back, and with the sides partly broken away.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1916.

adapting it to bind a large number of sheets. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with three sections inserted in the back. Fig. 4c is a section on line 4l4 of Fig. 1

.filled to its capacity but without any sections in the back. Fig. 5 is the same as Fig. 1 without'any sheets therein. Fig. 6 1s a section on line 66 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7

is asection on line 77-of Fig. 5 showing,

however, a sheet of paper therein partly broken away Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a portion ofthe binder, the remaining portion being broken away. Fig. 9 is a perspective' view of a part of the'locking device.

In its simplest form and without any sheets therein, the binder is as shown in Fig. 5 and has two back members 10 to each of which there is hinged a curved plate 11 and to each of said plates a cover 12 is hinged. To the two plates of each back member 10 inwardly extending webs 13, are

secured, each web having a tubularbinding post 14, and when the two portions or sectlons of the binder are pressed together so .as to match, as shown in Fig. 5, they are held together by screws 15 which extend through said binding posts. The sheets of paper 16 are at two points in their inner edges provided with slots 17 so that they can be slipped over the binding posts 14. That prevents the sheet from being withdrawn from the binder excepting by lifting the sheet off the binding posts. The

covers 12 and hinged plates 11 are left free and can be thrown back or closed like any .book cover.

The outer position of one of said hinged plates 11 is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5.

Pressure plates 18 extend the full width of the binder and are hinged to the inner edge of the curved'hinged plate 11 as shown clearest in Fig. 4. These plates 18 press against the outside sheets of paper clamping the sheets between them. The pressure plates 18 have slots like slot 17 in thesheets of paper out in them for surrounding the binding posts in the same manner as the sheets of paper surround them.

When the sheets have been put in the binder, it is locked by the locking members 20, one of which is shown in Fig.9, which is curvedand substantially L-shaped and loop- .like; the looped end extending through the hinged plate 11 near its connection with the back member 10, and the member 20 fits astride the lock plate 21, which is secured to the back member 10 about midway of its ends and has at its inner edge ratchet teeth 22 adapted to engage a tooth 23 on the lock member 20, as shown in Fig. 3. The other end of the member 20 has two projections which extend through the'plate 11 and are held in place by the pins 24 as shown in Fig. 9. A small bolt 25 is secured in said plate 11, and on it a spring 26 is located, which presses the locking member 20 toward the back and forces the teeth 23 on said member 20 into engagement with one of the notches on the plate 21. If it be desired to more securely hold said means in locking position the mechanism has been provided with a safety device to prevent the locking means from releasing when the book should fall or be thrown around. This safety device consists of a wedge 27, which may be inserted between the end of the loop member 20 and the outer surface of the hinged plate 11. The plate has a series of notches 22 so as to enable said locking means to be used under various expanded conditions of the binder. As the sheets are added, the hinged plates 11 and covers 12 are forced necessarily farther and farther apart as shown in Fig. 4 as compared with Fig. 5, Fig. 4 showing the same in expanded form. lVith only the two main back members 10 and parts heretofore associated the binder has a capacity for increasing the number of sheets it holds as indicated by Figs. 4 and 5. But if it be desired to add still further sheets beyond the capacity of the binder, when having only the two back members 10, such further expansion is enabled by the insertion of one or more additional back sections. Said inserted back sections are held in place by three means. Near the middle of each section there is an inwardly extending plate 31 seen in Figs. 3 and 6, and these plates interlock at their inner ends with the adjacent plates 21 and 31, as shown in Fig. 3. One of said plates 21 has at its inner corner a projection 33 adapted to engage a hook 34 upon the adjacent corner of the plate 31. The other plate 21 has one of the hooks 34 on it adapted to engage the projection 33 on the adjacent plate 31. Each plate 31 has at one corner a projection 33 and at the other inner corner a hook 34, and said projections and hooks interlock as indicated in Fig. 3. The inserted back sections 30 are also secured at two points, one near each end of the binder by means of inwardly extending webs 13 with tubular binding posts 14 thereon, which are similar to those of the outer back sections and as shown in Fig. 7. And the adjacent binding posts on said webs are secured together by screws 37 substantially like the screws 15 so as to be successively removed. In fact all these screws are in alinement with each other as shown in Fig. 2.

Therefore, as the number of sheets in the binder becomes greater and greater, additional sections are added until it reaches its maximum size and there is no limit to the increase in the thickness of the binder, excepting the inconvenience of handling the book after it is bound.

The invention claimed is:

1. A loose leaf binder including a back formed of a pair of longitudinally extending back sections with which the covers of the binder may be connected, and one or more back sections adapted to be introduced or removed from between said pair of back sections for increasing or diminishing the capacity of the binder, adjacent surfaces of said back sections having corresponding plates adapted to be interlocked.

2. A loose leaf binder including a back formed of a pair of longitudinally extending back sections with which the covers of the binder may be connected, and one or more back sections adapted to be introduced or removed from between said pair of back sections for increasing or diminishing'the capacity of the binder, adjacent surfaces of said back sections being provided with interlocking plates arranged so that they may be longitudinally slipped into locking position.

3. A loose leaf binder including a plurality of removable back sections, each formed of a longitudinally extending back plate and a central inward extension, said extension being provided with means for interlocking the sections together.

4. A loose leaf binder including a plurality of removable back sections, each formed of a longitudinally extending back plate and a central inward extension, said extension being provided with means for interlocking the sections together, webs from said back plates containing tubular binding posts, and screws in said posts for uniting the back sections.

5. A loose leaf binder including a plurality of removable back sections, each formed of a longitudinally extending back plate and a central inward extension, said extension being provided with means for interlocking the sections together, a tubular binding post connected with each back section between the ends and middle thereof so that the posts of the series of back sections will be in alinement with each other, and screws adapted to secure the adjacent binding posts.

6. A loose leaf binder including a back, longitudinally extending plates hinged to each side of the back, covers hinged to said plates, a toothed plate secured 'to and extending inwardly from the back, and a releasable locking member mounted in connection with each hinged plate on the back for locking the binder.

7. A loose leaf binder including a back, longitudinally extending plates hinged to each side of the back, covers hinged to said plates, a toothed plate secured to and extending inwardly from the back, and an L'- shaped locking member mounted in connection with each hinged plate and fitting astride said toothed plate connected with the back and adapted to engage the notches therein, and a spring mounted in connection with the hinged plate, which bears against said locking member for holding it in locking position.

8. A loose leai= binder including a back, webs extending inwardly from the back and having at their inner edges binding posts, covers, and a plate hinged along one edge to each of said covers and along the other edge to the back and curved outwardly so as to be transversely concavo-convex, whereby sheets of paper can be slipped on and over the binding posts by merely turning the top hinged plate and cover back out of the way.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

WALTER L. BLUE. Witnesses J. H. WELLS, MABEL HEINOLD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained or five cents each, by addressing the "commilfloner a! Iatente,

Washington, D. 0. 

